PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 18, 2024

Collin Morikawa

Valhalla Golf Club

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Collin Morikawa is with us at the 106th PGA Championship.

How would you sum up your third round?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Steady. Felt like I made a couple putts, hit a couple good shots, got away with a few, still left a few out there. A balance of everything.

Obviously the course was playing pretty low today. A lot of guys took it low to climb their way up. I assume tomorrow is going to be the same. It was nice to make that putt on the last and kind of -- I wouldn't say cushion, but to at least be tied for the lead with 18 to go.

Q. You're in a terrific position. I'm wondering, you have two majors to your name already. How important is that going to be in terms of experience, know-how going into the final round? It's going to be a pressure cooker of an atmosphere out there on Sunday.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I'm going to tap in just kind of that mental state I've been in, not only those two, but in other tournaments I've played well in. I think the goal for me tonight before my tee time is just to be as mentally sharp by that first hole.

I think looking back at a month ago at Augusta, I felt sharp in everything, but I feel like I could have had a little bit of self-talk before I went out on that first tee and really just not got ahead of myself. Not that I did, but two holes really cost me back there.

Tomorrow is just going to put everything I have out there and see how it plays out.

Q. There's people that say you need to hit it 360 or whatever it is off the tee here, but when you first came here this week, did you immediately think, Oh, yeah, I can play this?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I knew it was long. Soft greens kind of helped -- I think it helped me in a sense to where I can still fire at pins with 5-irons and 4-irons and get away with them.

Look, I felt like the way I was driving the ball heading into the week, I felt like I was still going to be able to contend.

But obviously it's nice to kind of put that together, see the scores, and like I said, have 18 holes left and tied for the lead.

Q. Two things, from your vantage point, how would you describe the swing that occurred on 15?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Sorry, I thought you were talking about my actual golf swing.

Q. Not the actual golf swing.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Long day. I mean, it was big for me.

Yeah, to take advantage of that -- I lipped it in, it was a 360 lip-in, and sometimes you need those things to go your way. Xander still fought back. Had two birdies to finish off the round, but he makes par there; he has a two-shot lead on me. It was nice to have that little swing for me just heading into tomorrow.

Q. Very unrelated, what does it say about where you are with your game right now that you're out here so low, just you and J.J. kind of doing it yourselves?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I mean, yeah, I am out here solo, but I still have a team around me. I've got Stephen Sweeney for putting. I still talk to Rick every day.

So there's a big team behind me that they're all there in their places and just kind of fitting the pieces and just going through the same routine. It's huge. It helps. Try not to overcomplicate things.

This week, if I've hit a bad shot, I don't get ahead and try something new on the next one shot because I hit a bad one. It's just a poor swing, poor effort, go on to the next and try and execute the next one.

Q. What's one thing Rick told you this week that's helped?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: He hasn't told me to do anything. It's not really how it works between us. It's just talking it through and just getting things out and creating a game plan.

A lot of it is just him going through all the mumbo jumbo and the gibberish I pretty much say to him and in formulating a plan of saying, okay, this is what we're going to focus on for today.

He never really tells me, you need to do this. It's just kind of, you play it day-to-day and you see how everything is feeling. But our goal for today was to just take every shot one at a time, and I think we did a good job at that. That's going to be a big key for me tomorrow.

Q. At the Masters you said your mistake was you were too greedy, but with such a bunched up leaderboard, guys going so low, do you have to be kind of greedy aggressive tomorrow?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No. Look, I feel like I've made birdies throughout this entire golf course, so it's not like I have to get all my birdies in through the first six holes. There are going to be guys that take it very, very low early on, and I haven't looked at the leaderboard, but there are a ton of guys that could do a lot tomorrow.

I've been in tournaments where I've teed off and you lose the lead already by the time you tee off. It could be like that tomorrow, who knows.

But like I said, I'm going to take it one shot at a time. If I need to press, it's going to be in the last two to three holes if I need to.

But I think if I stick to the game plan I've kind of been working through -- look, it's been working. It's put me in a tie for the lead today through three rounds. So I've got a job to do tomorrow for 18.

Q. Any shades of Harding Park in 2020 for you the way the leaderboard is stacked up here with so many guys having a chance, and what did you learn from that Sunday that might be able to benefit you here?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I've just got to be focused on myself. Look, I've played against all these guys. It's not like any of these guys are new. They all have their accolades within themselves, and really anyone can go low.

But I'm going to put everything I have. I learned a lot over this past month, over these past two years, over the past five years of being a pro, and we're going to really just -- going to have a talk with myself.

I normally just kind of go to sleep, eat my dinner, eat my breakfast, wake up and play golf. I think everything that I've gone through over the past couple years, I'm ready for these moments. A month ago, I felt like I was ready. Made a couple errors. Tomorrow hopefully we're not.

Q. Starting your career the way you did with the two quick majors and other wins, I would imagine it got a little crazy. The last two years, have they been less crazy? Do you feel like people have forgotten about you?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: To be honest, it wasn't that crazy. I felt like I can kind of go around everywhere.

Frankly, yes, it's nice to have people root for you, and I feel like people aren't rooting for me out here. They like a good story. Xander hasn't won one, other guys, whatever it may be.

But, you know, I could care less.

Q. Can you go out to eat and not be recognized sometimes or are you always recognized?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, no, I get recognized now. It's enough to where I get recognized living in Las Vegas there's a lot of people who like sports. A lot of people who like sports. I get recognized. I do get recognized,.

But I wouldn't say three years ago it was crazy and today was crazy. It's just go on with your life and you deal with it.

Q. Can you give a little more color on what that self-talk was like that you were mentioning on the first tee Augusta on Sunday?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, I didn't do any self-talk. Frankly, I never have.

But I think today is going to be a great time to just sit down for 60 seconds and just let it out and just tell yourself what you want to do. I've got a job. I knew showing up to this week, we were going to give ourselves a chance, and we've done the job for three days.

I've got a goal. Hopefully we can accomplish that tomorrow.